French grape harvest turns into a hunt

In several earlier postings (here is the most recent), I’ve described the decline of wine grapes worldwide as reports of poor harvests keep coming in. But, it may be even worse than thought.

“This isn’t so much a harvest, as a hunt for grapes,” French winemaker Jean-Jacques Robert, 64, told the English-language French publication The Local as he unloaded grapes still warm from his vineyards around Fuisse in Burgundy.

“It’s a catastrophe, the worst harvest for 30 or 40 years,” said the normally cheery owner of Domaine Robert-Denogent.

Reports The Local, the organic winemaker lost between two-thirds and three-quarters of his harvest in one hailstorm in April. And, he is not alone. For thousands of French winemakers, 2016 will go down as an annus horribilis — horrible year — with vines destroyed by frost, heavy rain, hailstones “as big as ping pong balls,” mildew and drought near the Mediterranean.

“All that was missing was a plague of frogs,” said Robert’s son Antoine, whose near century-old Beaujolais vines also were devastated.